


sprinkles of the stars

by flawqueen



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Alternate Universe - War, Angst, Betrayal, Character Death, Fluff, Heavy Angst, Hurt, Hurt Nico di Angelo, Hurt No Comfort, Loyalty, M/M, Murder, Nico Feels, Nico di Angelo & Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano Friendship, Nico di Angelo-centric, Protective Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Reyna is a good friend, actually death(s) like plural, but its a lil different, but only for a while, lmao sorry, oops sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 10:27:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22968475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flawqueen/pseuds/flawqueen
Summary: Almost a hundred years prior to Nico di Angelo’s birth, a twelve-year-war between the emperors of the Privilla began.Though this detail was essentially forgotten at that point of time, Emperor Zeus, the king of all kings, had claimed ultimate control over the dozen lands, and he couldn’t understand why the other emperors were suddenly so rebellious and irrepressible. They demanded a share of the authority in the empire, but Emperor Zeus immediately rebuffed them, and despite Duchess Hestia’s many endeavors, the other rulers couldn’t be calmed down, and her effort was wasted. The dispute only managed to embroil further, erupting foolish battles in its wake.Year after year, allegiance after allegiance, the war continued and became known as the Olympians’ Crusade. The empire changed. Countless soldiers died for an inane cause. Duchess Hestia stopped seeing the point of trying for peace, though he was still the only one who saw the foolishness. Spilt blood led to vengeance. As a result, the war seemed interminable.And yet, some things just had to change.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Kudos: 18





	sprinkles of the stars

**Author's Note:**

> lololol some angst up your laneeee
> 
> this is actually one of my most treasured works tho so pls be nice :) hope you enjoy!!

_Almost a hundred years prior to Nico di Angelo’s birth, a twelve-year-war between the emperors of the Privilla began._

_Though this detail was essentially forgotten at that point of time, Emperor Zeus, the king of all kings, had claimed ultimate control over the dozen lands, and he couldn’t understand why the other emperors were suddenly so rebellious and irrepressible. They demanded a share of the authority in the empire, but Emperor Zeus immediately rebuffed them, and despite Duchess Hestia’s many endeavors, the other rulers couldn’t be calmed down, and her effort was wasted. The dispute only managed to embroil further, erupting foolish battles in its wake._

_Year after year, allegiance after allegiance, the war continued and became known as the Olympians’ Crusade. The empire changed. Countless soldiers died for an inane cause. Duchess Hestia stopped seeing the point of trying for peace, though he was still the only one who saw the foolishness. Spilt blood led to vengeance. As a result, the war seemed interminable._

_And yet, some things just had to change._

* * *

“Get on your guard, di Angelo, your guard!” Head General Ramírez-Arellano directs as she clashes her sword with Nico’s, nearly skewering him.

Nico barely manages to block Reyna’s next attack, his forehead dripping with sweat. He is about to charge when Reyna suddenly discards her sword, its beautiful purple hilt gleaming in the sun. “That’s it for today,” she concludes, reaching down and grabbing a flask of water, though the kingdom of Bacchus was renowned for its lovely wine. She throws it to Nico, who catches it neatly. “You need to rest. You’ve been training an awful lot lately.”

Nico takes a few big gulps from the flask. “Well, I need to prepare for the war.”

Reyna smiles. While another might see it as an expression of pride, Nico detects wistfulness in it, and maybe a little sadness. “You’re already great, Nico.”

Nico laughs, loud and clear, and it seems silly that he should do so in such a dangerous time, but he grins anyway. “I appreciate the compliment, Reyna, but you only say so because your powers are in absolute control. Not to mention that you are the greatest swordsman Bacchus has ever seen.”

“Well,” Reyna says, beginning to walk away, “watch as the ‘greatest swordsman Bacchus has ever seen’ train the _second_ greatest swordsman Bacchus has ever seen.”

(Nico salutes to the head general’s retreating form, his heart swelling triumphantly.)

* * *

The war has begun.

Nico’s mind is spinning, but his unwavering loyalty to himself, Reyna, and his future keeps him walking, his strides direct and long. She vaguely hears Reyna’s voice saying to his unit, “For some of you, this is your first battle. Don’t be nervous. Don’t be weak. If you need help, call out to me or a nearby general.” She nods to the five tall men standing in front of her, and they reciprocate the action. “Most importantly, keep fighting. Never back out. For Bacchus!”

The battle cry echoes through the crowd. “For Bacchus!”

Standing a little straighter now, Nico, without thought, runs into the battle as Reyna charges in. The first thing he sees is a wave of soldiers with shining silver armor; Nico recognizes them as the Dianian army. Nico had known that the land of Diana was famous for their archery skills, but still, their long, wide line of silver bows is overwhelming. Not only did a hundred arrows rain down upon the Bacchans, but a fierce battle cry arose among them, driving Nico into fear.

Nico had always admired Diana and their ruler, Emperor Artemis, for there was not a single male in the entire kingdom and he respected their determination, but now, as he fights tooth and claw with the opposing women, he feels the enthusiasm die down.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Reyna parrying off three Dianians, so Nico shoves off the one he is battling and runs toward him to help, but then Reyna drops her sword and opens her hands with her palms facing the sky, and Nico knows what will happen a second before it does.

A sour, sharp tang of grape wine fills the air and Nico hears a familiar piercing snap – the sound of madness. And despite the fact that Nico is not affected by it, for he is a Bacchan, his head still feels a little queasy.

Around him, all of the Dianians blink and stop. Then, suddenly, as if it was an obligation, they react to Reyna’s magic. Some of them mindlessly retreat, some of them hit themselves with their bow, and some of them even attack each other. Some of them even morph into a dolphin – one of Bacchus’s sacred animals. Nico is in awe, as he had never seen a madness spell in battle before.

However, he still runs to Reyna’s side as she falls from exhaustion, catching her softly.

* * *

Nico watches Reyna sleep in the infirmary, her face relaxed and peaceful. Thank Uranus, her injuries are not severe; only a small cut on her bicep. Nico still has not recovered from seeing Reyna in real combat, but her skills only make his respect for her grow. He smiles fondly.

“Pining?”

Nico turns around, reaching for his sword, ready to attack, but is only met with a familiar face: Healer Will Solace. He is smirking, glancing between Reyna and Nico, but his casted arm ruins the arrogant image. His azure eyes seem to be a million shades of blue. They go along well with his golden hair.

Nico nods respectfully. “Healer Solace,” he addresses. “And, no, for your information, I am not pining. Just admiration is all.”

Solace lifts his eyebrows, amused. Nico’s vision flashes red at his suggestive look. “Oh, yeah?” he says, walking towards him. He peers down at Reyna. “Just admiration makes you stare?”

Nico clenches his fist. “Head General Reyna was the only one willing to give me, a fifteen-year-old, a chance to become a soldier in the Olympians’ Crusade. My loyalty to her comes before all. So, yes, just admiration makes me stare.”

“You’re fierce. I like that.”

“If you are insinuating something –”

“No, no.” Solace begins to walk out of Reyna’s infirmary room. Then he turns.

“I’ll be seeing you again, Soldier Nico di Angelo.”

* * *

Aside from the fact that Healer Solace is an incredible, handsome, and extremely funny man, not to mention one of the most respected healers in the entire Privilla, Nico feels a strong surge of anger towards him for suggesting a romantic relationship between himself and Reyna.

And yet, once, despite all of his instincts telling him the opposite, when he pats him on the back after another successful battle, saying, “Good work today,” Nico’s breath hitches.

* * *

Throughout the next two months, Nico finds himself subconsciously asking to be in General Jason Grace’s unit, for Healer Solace was on Grace’s service. He becomes so overly fascinated by the combat medic that he doesn’t notice the suspicious looks Reyna gives him every time he does.

At one point, when Nico comes up to Solace to report the overnight duties that day, he stops him when he addresses him formally and whispers, “Call me Will.”

And yes, the day his sister had died in the war, his mother had picked him up with tears shining in her eyes and cooed, _Love is spontaneous, Nico, so treasure it_ , but Nico had never really believed her.

So he doesn’t know what comes over him when he blurts, “I love you,” to him, but Will’s smile makes it all worth it.

* * *

Nico knows that there are whispers. Whispers about Emperor Dionysus, whispers about him conspiring against his own citizens, whispers about all the loss Bacchus will have to deal with if their ruler, whose own special ability was madness, went mad.

And despite him love-stricken state, Nico listens.

Then, he observes.

Personally, he thinks that the civilians are correct. On multiple occasions, Nico catches Dionysus acting strangely. For instance, when Reyna, as usual, reports a successfully executed ambush against the kingdom of Mercury, Dionysus simply nods and fumbles with his fingers. He remains twitchy all throughout the celebration party. He doesn’t even take a single sip of wine.

The most concerning part, in Nico’s opinion, is how his eyes never seem to leave Reyna.

Nico begins to wonder: If Dionysus really _were_ to be overthrown, who would take over?

_Gods of above and below._

_Reyna._

After that realization, Nico cannot stop thinking about Dionysus and Reyna. He checks on Reyna every chance he gets, and when Reyna questions, concerned, “Why? Is something wrong?” he always replies with a forced smile, “No, it’s nothing, Reyna.” (The lie burns on his tongue.)

Nico had always been good at keeping secrets, but this is the one secret he cannot keep. Not being able to resist the urge, he sends a message to Will one day via another soldier: “ _Meet me at the back of the west training arena_.”

Nico waits for him secret lover there, tapping his foot incessantly to the point where the sound is becoming obnoxious even to him. (He doesn’t know how to stop it, though.)

“You asked for me?”

Nico turns around sharply and is met with Will’s shining eyes. He is as handsome and charming as always, but with the topic Nico wants to discuss, he can’t bring himself to show any affection at the moment.

Nico only inhales deeply. “Yes,” he answers. he doesn’t know where to start. “Did you hear about Emperor Dionysus, Will? About his supposed madness? There are rumors.”

Will narrows his eyes, but he nods. “Yes. What about it?”

Nico hesitates, but he continues anyway. He tells him of his suspicions. He talks about Dionysus’s strange actions lately; he informs him of Reyna and the celebration party. Nico’s talking speed accelerates as he persists, listing all of his recent observations. He had subconsciously looked down as he spoke, but when he looks up, Will’s eyes are cold.

He falters. “What?”

“Are you accusing our own emperor of dishonesty?”

Nico is speechless; this is not the reaction he had been expecting. “What are you –”

“You actually believe, after being a soldier in the Olympians’ Crusade, that Emperor Dionysus would betray us? More importantly, our head general?” Will’s tone is harsh, and Nico instinctively flinches. “Head General Reyna and Emperor Dionysus had always had a great professional relationship. “If your loyalty to Dionysus can be shaken so easily, then you are not a Bacchan at all.”

“You –”

“No.” Will cuts him off. “I’m not hearing any of this.”

Then, without another word, he walks away, leaving Nico alone in the circular stadium.

He wonders if the autumn breeze had always been this cold.

* * *

Despite everything, his talk with Will unmistakably bruises Nico’s ego. Over the next few days, he tries to catch his eye, but he avoids him, once even requesting him off his unit. He constantly doubts himself. What if Will were right? How could his loyalty waver?

And Reyna makes everything worse. She only reminds him of his failure to be a proper Bacchan. And the worst part is this: he could see it. He could clearly see the potential in her to become an emperor. Reyna is the head general of Bacchus; she is skilled, brilliant, and well-liked. She would make an amazing ruler.

Nico recalls his first conversation with Will.

“ _Just admiration makes you stare?_ ” he had challenged with a smirk when he caught him looking at a sleeping Reyna.

Nico had then clenched his fist and harshly replied, “ _Head General Reyna was the only one willing to give me, a fifteen-year-old, a chance to become a soldier in the Olympians’ Crusade. My loyalty to her comes before all. So, yes, just admiration makes me stare_.”

That memory is all it takes for him to stride toward Reyna’s cabin.

Nico barges in the small room, making Reyna jump. She is sitting on her cot, polishing one of her favorite swords. Nico recognizes the blade as a gift from Dionysus, and his heart starts to beat abnormally.

Reyna places the weapon down, and stands up. “Is something wrong?” Even though she had asked this question constantly for the past week, this time, there is something different. A tone of determination and understanding lines her words.

Nico opens his mouth, then closes it.

“I think the emperor is going to kill you,” he blurts out.

Reyna’s deep brown eyes are already strong and unnerving, but her answer shakes Nico to the core.

“I know.”

* * *

The war is over.

Bacchus – through months of doubt and suffering – had eventually weakened Emperor Zeus of Jupiter so much that he surrendered, which was a possibility no one had expected.

So, Reyna is congratulated even more.

Nico watches as the Bacchan citizens all raise their wine glasses and cry gleefully, “For the gods!” and sips at their beautiful purple drink. Reyna and he stand together, refusing any and all drinks, for Nico is aware of the ridiculous alcohol tolerance Bacchans have, and they cannot be drunk at this time. Nico politely laughs with the others.

(However, on such a glorious, jubilant night, he feels a tingling warning down his spine.)

Nico notices that Reyna is a bit twitchy as well. Though she is good at obscuring it, she glances around from time to time, as if she is suspecting a danger.

It is now midnight, but through the laughter and the gin, it seems as if no time has passed at all. The full moon glares down upon the people, and the stars twinkle as if they, too, are smiling, joyful for Bacchus’s victory. Nico squints at the dark sky, and he can see, through the clear air, the constellation of Orion.

Then Dionysus comes, and the people cheer.

(Nico does not. He glances to his left and sees that Reyna doesn’t either.)

Dionysus stands in front of the crowd, and starts a toast. He seems strangely overexcited. “I give this toast to the people,” he begins, “who have not given up. And to the gods, who have blessed us. And most importantly…” Dionysus walks towards Reyna, and Nico’s stomach clenches as the emperor lays a weirdly too-gentle hand on her shoulder. “To my head general,” he continues, “who have led us through the entire war!”

The crowd applauded, including Nico this time.

But then, instead of drinking it like the citizens, Bacchus places his wine glass on the long, gold dining table next to him. Nico stops clapping.

(He realizes what will happen a second before it does.)

Dionysus suddenly plunges his blade into Reyna’s back, penetrating through her stomach, and a thousand inaudible gasps echo through the clear air as a look of closure crosses the head general’s face and she collapses to the floor, bleeding out.

And Nico screams.

* * *

There is nothing, absolutely nothing, beautiful about death.

Death is wilted flowers lying in front of forgotten graves, broken bodies held together by threads of flesh and skin. Death is the screams of the damned and the aches of the average; it is destruction and carnage and havoc, pestilence and malady. It is choking on last words and scrubbing blood off of clothes, mothers crying over dead husbands and children growing up as orphans.

Yes, there is nothing beautiful about death.

As Reyna bleeds out in front of him, Nico is strongly reminded of this.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Will, his face contorted into an expression of shock and horror. Nico wants to run to him; he wants to get in his face and yell that he was right, he was right all along, but Reyna is dead and her body is lifeless and _gods_ , Reyna is really dead.

He isn’t sure if he believes it yet.

How, he wonders with sudden realization and horror, could he have killed so many enemy soldiers, when the pain of losing someone is so great?

He charges at Dionysus, and he is aware that this is a clear revolt, but he doesn’t find it in himself to care. Nico expects himself to be killed right away, but then he hears the footsteps of hundreds of feet behind him, and realizes that the Bacchan army is fighting too. They are _helping_.

Nico immediately runs to a soldier on the right wing, attacking his side. He deflects it well, as he had expected, so he retreats falsely and sees his confused face turn into shock as a fellow Bacchan archer shoots an arrow into his arm, finding a kink in his armor.

One general, still loyal to Dionysus (gods, how could he be?), jabs at Nico’s side, forcing him to turn around, and he narrowly misses it. He blocks and attacks, but he could practically hear Reyna’s voice saying, _Always straighten your posture, Nico. It helps with your arm movement_ , and that old memory of him brings unshed tears to his eyes.

However, one soldier to his left calls out loudly, “For Head General Reyna!” and that one sentence pushes strength into Nico’s bones. He harshly shoves the general he is battling away from him, then fakes an attack to his stomach only to nick the space behind his knee. He cries out and crumples to the ground, cradling his leg; Nico guesses the cut was deeper than he had meant it to be.

He himself has never been adept at the traditional Bacchan madness abilities (Reyna had tried to teach him once; he realized he was a hopeless cause quite quickly), but behind him, the pungent scent of wine fills him nose once again, along with the ear-splitting sound of a dozen minds cracking, and Nico realizes that someone had cast a madness spell. And though he knows that it barely affects Bacchans, Nico hopes that the soldier’s magic is strong enough to make the enemies dizzy, at the very least.

Then, dazed with determination and grief, just when Nico is about to help another struggling fellow soldier, a sharp pain spreads from the small of his back.

Nico just had enough time to look down and see the tip of an arrowhead piercing him abdomen before falling to the ground, his vision going red. He puts a hand to his injury, and feels his own warm blood on his fingers. He feels sick.

When Nico dies, he does not die quietly. He dies staring into the eyes of his once-treasured lover, trying to convey his vengeful message to the aghast Will Solace.

**Author's Note:**

> tell me if you enjoyed!!! until next time :)
> 
> also, if there are any mistakes here (or in any of my works), pls let me know in the comments!! i'll fix it asap :)


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